Henry County STAR Students
Gardner, Prisk Share STAR Student Honors for Henry County
View photos of the event here.
HENRY COUNTY, GA - Emmanuel Gardner of Woodland High School and Judah Prisk of Creekside Christian Academy tied for the top SAT score among public and private high school students in Henry County and were both named district-wide STAR Student during a ceremony hosted by the Henry County Chamber of Commerce on Jan. 24.
Gardner and Prisk were accompanied by their chosen STAR Teacher. Gardner, a senior at Woodland, chose Kelly Vigon, while Prisk, a senior at Creekside, chose Heather Skelton.
The two duos will now move on to the regional competition in Newnan on March 21 for a chance to advance to the state STAR Student and Teacher Program in Duluth on April 24.
Both students emphasized the key role their dedicated STAR Teachers played in their success, while both teachers felt challenged by and drew inspiration from their ambitious STAR Students.
“The first time I met Ms. Vigon was at our open house, and I knew that she would be someone who had an everlasting impact on me. She’s always there to support me and encourage me with any of my goals,” said Gardner.
“Normally, the teacher is the one who challenges the student, but for me, Judah has challenged me to grow in my craft and my career to be the best I can be to serve my students,” said Skelton.
STAR Students are named at all public and private high schools. Awardees must have the highest SAT score and be in the top 10% or top 10 students of the class based on grade-point average.
With graduation right around the corner, Gardner plans to attend Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to major in aerospace engineering, while Prisk is strongly considering Georgia Institute of Technology to major in mathematics.
The Professional Association of Georgia Educators (PAGE) Foundation, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Department of Education sponsor the statewide STAR Program each year, while the Henry County Chamber of Commerce takes on the local ceremony with sponsorship support from various businesses in the community who ensure that each student receives a commemorative certificate and monetary prize.
The local event was led by Chamber of Commerce President Joe Henning.
“The Henry County Chamber of Commerce has a strong history of support for education,” said Henning. “The Henry Chamber is active in encouraging growth and achievement of our education system and students. We extend our congratulations to these students for what they have achieved, and we look forward to their future contributions to our community and society.”
Superintendent Mary Elizabeth Davis and board members were on hand to congratulate individual winners.
Begun in 1958 by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the STAR program has recognized nearly 29,000 students and their teachers from around the state.
The Henry County STAR Students and Teachers are as follows:
· Bible Baptist Christian School: Reagan Trotter (student) and Sarah Kiel (teacher)
· Community Christian School: Maggie Kent (student) and Cindy Balsam (teacher)
· Creekside Christian Academy: Judah Prisk (student) and Heather Skelton (teacher)
· Dutchtown High School: Kayla Dang (student) and Ansley Hughes (teacher)
· Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy: Miller Doerr (student) and Judith Lockhart (teacher)
· Eagle’s Landing High School: Omotara Tiamiyu (student) and Claud Spinks (teacher)
· Hampton High School: Nil Patel (student) and Brandon Garrison (teacher)
· Locust Grove High School: Christopher Hiett (student) and Shashank Dakur (teacher)
· Luella High School: Tristian Pope (student) and Matthew Ezeh (teacher) · McDonough High School: Maya Blair (student) and Uriel Richardson (teacher)
· McDonough High School: Maya Blair (student) and Uriel Richardson (teacher)
· New Creation Christian Academy: Ian Ebaugh (student) and Bonnie Gardner (teacher)
· Ola High School: Luke Olden (student) and Emily Gardner (teacher)
· Stockbridge High School: Kody Mitchell (student) and Bala Thevar (teacher)
· Strong Rock Christian School: Ben Davis (student) and Marsha Sanders (teacher)
· Union Grove High School: Euan Ham (student) and Ashleigh Eidson (teacher)
· Woodland High School: Emmanuel Gardner (student) and Kelly Vigon (teacher)
